Believing in Yourself

Hey friends! Long time no see. Today, I want to talk about believing in yourself. I know it sounds cheesy, but this concept can quite literally move mountains.

God has gifted each of us with unique capabilities and characteristics that will help us fulfill our purpose here on this earth. However, I’m afraid that many of us, myself included, cower down at opportunities to use these unique gifts and abilities.

Let me give you an example. Surprise, surprise...it’s an FFA example. FFA was one of my main activities in high school, and God taught me so much through my experiences in the organization, so it’s only fitting that I share what the good Lord revealed to me!!

It was my freshman year of high school. My sister and I had just won the Junior FFA Quiz State Championship the year before. The studying process for that contest was brutal and took so much time and energy because my sister and I wanted to be the best.

The thought of advancing to the senior division of the contest terrified me. In the Junior division, we only competed against other 8th graders, but the senior division was open to all high schoolers. The pressure was on. Were two freshmen good enough to beat seniors who had been in the organization for 5 years?

The pressure I put on myself to win almost crushed me. All the anxiety caused me to not even want to compete in the contest at all because I was so afraid of failure. I cried, talked to my mom about it, and had ultimately come to the conclusion that I wanted to quit--- for no good reason other than fear.

Luckily, my ag teacher and my mom talked some sense in me, and I ended up competing. But that didn’t take the fear away. In fact, at my first contest of the season, my worst fear happened… someone beat me :(. However, rather than allowing it to absolutely crush me, I decided that I would simply use that defeat as motivation to do better the next time.

You’d think the story would end by my team advancing to the state contest and winning… but we didn’t. My sister and I tied for first individually on the state level, but our team lost by 2 points. I was absolutely crushed.

That meant my sister and I had to study hard again the next year, which was not fun at all. However, it was during that year of studying after we didn’t win state that I learned so many life lessons. I learned how to work on a team. I learned to seek joy when faced with defeat. I learned that failure is not final, and I cannot get very far in life alone.

That next year, we won state by a long shot and advanced to the national contest where we won the national championship in Senior Quiz.

Although this story looks inspiring on paper, it was so difficult while I was going through it. Isn’t that how a lot of life is? We are faced with challenges and hardships of every kind, but when we look back, we can see the beauty of it all.

I want to encourage you to not give up. Don’t quit trying. Don’t stop showing up just because you are scared and feel like you don't know what you are doing. Allow yourself to feel the fear, but don’t let it stop you. God knew your weaknesses when He put that dream in your heart, and He will give you the strength you need to overcome it. I leave you with this quote:

Live in such a way that you can look back on your life without having to wonder, “What if I hadn't given up?”

Thanks for reading!!

Love, Bre <3